Forged
by CarminMoon
Summary: After a terrible tragedy Major Jasper Whitlock needs more help than he can ask for. O/S For the PPSS contest "An Officer and A Gentleman".


**An Officer and A Gentleman Contest**

**Title: Forged**

**Penname: CarminMoon**

**Branch Of Service/Profession: Army**

**Pairing: Jasper and Bella**

**If you would like to see all of the stories that are a part of this contest visit the "An Officer and a Gentleman" C2 Community: http://www(.)fanfiction(.)net/community/The_Perv_Packs_An_Officer_and_a_Gentleman_Contest_Entries/76389/**

**I don't own these characters, if I did I wouldn't be reading fanfic, I'd be living it! **

***~~***

Observant green eyes absorbed the austere décor of the room; the sterility broken only by a mason jar filled with wildflowers.

In the far corner a mountainous man dwarfed the lounge chair he reclined in. His sleeping figure revealed pain and sorrow even in rest.

The eyes continued their circuit of the room, falling on the patient in the bed. The lanky form of the man looked at peace, and the owner of the eyes regretted the intrusion he was about to make.

"Emmett? Did you sleep here all night again?"

The sleeping giant opened his left eye to peer at the intruder.

"Nah, Nurse Hatchet made me go to my room around midnight. I woke up around six and came here. Is it time?"

"Yes." came the simple reply.

"It's gonna be rough isn't it?" Though his question came out as a whisper the intruder heard the gentle Tennessee accent shine through.

"Only time will tell. Do you want to go get Edward? I'll wait for you."

"Yeah, I'll be right back." He heaved his bulky frame out of the chair with his good arm and shot a meaningful glance to his best friend in the bed.

*~~*

His thoughts were so jumbled and hazy he was unsure which way was up.

He knew he wasn't in danger but his mind was grasping for straws of knowledge.

The last thing he remembered was moving his squad through the outskirts of the small village, they were looking for an informant, and he was on point. The other five men on his team were slightly spread out behind him. He had just given the all-clear signal and then his mind went blank.

Since his memories were no help at all he decided to focus on the smells. Wrong, was all he could think, wrong. The smells pouring through his senses were all wrong. There was no dry, dusty smell, no gun oil, no stale sweat, no cinnamon gum, no spices from the market place. What he could smell was bleach, dried blood and something flowery. As he went through these discoveries in his mind he decided to do a physical check; a somewhat soft bed, slightly scratchy sheets,

several different spots on his backside that were itchy, his arms felt heavy but his legs, for some reason, did not.

*~~*

Three weeks had passed since he was taken out of his medically induced coma, and he still wasn't ready to talk about himself, even with his two closest friends.

They spoke of the others in their small squad, the two they lost that day, the injuries sustained by the other three, but he wouldn't let them talk about him.

When they tried he would change the subject. When they persisted he would lash out at them. They gave in to his temper, but he knew their patience with him was wearing thin.

He knew it was denial, but right now he had no other choice, to face the horrible truth would only break him down and he couldn't let anyone see that. He was the Major, the rock, the one who brought everyone home, and he failed. He failed his squad, his friends, his dad and himself. He was almost happy that his father had passed on and couldn't see him now. He knew he wouldn't have been able to handle the pity falling from his father's face.

"Knock, knock?" The voice of the overly cheerful nurse came through the door as she entered, he wondered why she bothered to pretend to give him a warning. It wasn't like he would be doing something, he couldn't get out of the bed on his own.

"So anything new today on the tube?" She inquired, at least she didn't ask him how he was.

"No." His reply wasn't pleasant, nor was it rude, it just was.

"Ah, well, there's always classic cartoons, at least they were good when I was a kid. Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck…" He stopped listening to her droning voice, she went on everyday about something as she came in the change his bandages, he stared off at a spot on the wall, refusing to look at her ministrations.

*~~*

Two months. Two months of nothing. Unless you counted anger, denial, pain, loss, and self loathing as something. If you did, he had lots of things. More than he had ever wanted.

"Jasper, I know you don't want to talk about this, you don't want to face it, but you have to. It's not as bad as you think. There are tons of new prosthetics out there now, I have a good friend who can come by to talk to you about some different choices."

Once again Carlisle had come to see if he could get the Major out of his shell. He was the only one that Jasper would even allow to speak of his injury.

His jaw was clenched tight and he worried about breaking his own teeth with the force he was exerting on them. With a final heavy sigh he rolled his eyes back into his head and let go.

"Carlisle, I, I just can't…I don't…I…" His voice faltered and he swore he wouldn't let his emotions overcome him again. He only allowed that to happen once, and no one had been around to witness it. Taking in a shaky breath he started again, "I just don't know how to deal with this. I can't comprehend how my life has changed. I have no one to turn to for this."

"Jasper, lots of people in wheelchairs live alone, and though you may think you are alone, you're not. Emmett and Edward would never let that happen, you know that."

"I can't depend on them! I don't know how! _I _am the one everyone depends on, I am the one they turn to, and I just can't be that man anymore!" His voice had risen during his outburst and he was quickly losing control of his cold façade.

"Listen here Major, you are still the same man! You are still a decorated officer and you still have the ability to lead! You are capable of anything you put your mind to, I know it doesn't look like that right now, but you will get past this."

Carlisle's emotions matched Jasper's in intensity and it finally made him stop and think. Could Carlisle be right?

*~~*

"Physical therapy sucks, man. There's no two ways about it." Emmett's happy-go-lucky voice was tinged with a small amount of pain, and Jasper was probably the only person who could pick up on that. He had known him for eighteen years, been his commanding officer for five, and entrusted his life to his bear paws more times than he could count. A shattered shoulder was nothing to sneer at, but he had sustained worse. Much worse. And Edward had twice as much therapy as Emmett to go through because he'd managed to break an arm and a leg, both compound fractures. He always was an over-achiever.

"You're such a puss! You would cry over a splinter." Edward's chuckle was half-hearted but much appreciated. Edward had been with them since that mission in '99 when Jasper was given his first choice in picking out his team. He'd poured over personnel records and hand picked his men. Edward was his second choice after Emmett. He'd never regretted it. They had become closer than anyone to him, they were the brothers he never had. His mother would've loved them, probably more than she loved him. Jasper knew they were trying their damnedest to cheer him up, and it was slowly starting to work.

"Will you two panty-waists shut yer damn traps? Giada is on, and she's makin' '_spageeti_ '!" Jasper's south Texas twang made her Italian accent even more ridiculous.

"Dude, you only watch her because of her tits!" Emmett pointedly said.

"Yeah? And like you don't stare at'em too, ya jacktard window licker."

"Ooooh, who'd you learn that one from?" Edward gave him a side glance, and Emmett guffawed.

"One of the nurses, she has the strangest damn vocab I've ever heard, and she natters on about some fan fiction site all the time. I guess it stuck in my brain."

His demeanor vacillated between a withdrawn angry man and a short-tempered badger with a thorn in it's foot. His friends kept trying to pull his spirits back up, and occasionally it worked, but they couldn't keep up with him twenty-four hours a day.

Their conversation continued until it was time for Jasper to go to therapy. To say he hated it was an understatement. It was like torture. He was not happy about having other people help him, other people having to see him as he struggled to do the exercises.

*~~*

The roar of the V-twin engine thundered through her ears, the wind whipped past their bodies and cooled their sun-kissed skin. She could feel his taut abs under his t-shirt, her hands gripping just a bit tighter than necessary. She always had a hard time keeping her hands to herself.

They hugged the curves of the winding mountain road, relishing the feel of time spent enjoying one another, thrilled in the security of their little world.

Before she had time to react, her world came to a screeching, tearing, metallic, shattering halt.

She awoke with a start and a small scream, covered in a light sheen of cold sweat, just like a thousand times before. Her heart thundered in her ears now, pulsing with the stress of the dream.

She relived that memory at least three nights a week. She looked in the mirror every morning and saw his sleeping form behind her in the bed before it faded away. She lost so much that day, her fiancé, her joy, her dad's bike, and her leg.

The deer leapt into the road from nowhere, James had tried to swerve and brake at the same time, flipping the motorcycle. He had never been as good a rider as her, she'd had so many more years under her belt. But in retrospect she knew she couldn't have done anything else better than he did that day.

He'd died on impact, and she had undergone nine hours of surgery to fix her mangled leg and they still had to amputate just below the knee. There was nothing they could do for her.

That was six years ago.

She grew up an Army brat, joined up herself when she turned eighteen, pulled a four year stint and then opted out to go to college. She earned her Masters in Physical Therapy, with a minor in psychology, re-upped for another tour, and completed that one in relative ease at a military hospital in Germany working with injured soldiers. She met James there, another Army brat, and when they were both done with their time they went back home to get married.

The accident happened seven weeks before their wedding, on her thirtieth birthday. Happy Fucking Birthday.

After all her therapy, getting her prosthesis, adjusting to her new lifestyle as a member of the disabled, not to mention a single, thirty-something woman, she struggled with her choices. After much soul-searching she decided she couldn't give up on the job she loved. She went back for her PhD, threw herself into her work, and she was damn good at it, of course she had a huge advantage since she had lived through her own small Hell.

*~~*

She was just finishing up her breakfast staring out at another rainy day in Seattle, when her cell rang, looking at the caller ID gave her a small smile.

"Hi Marcus! What can I do for you today?" Her cheerful voice wasn't a complete put-on, she always loved hearing from her favorite Doctor. He had helped her overcome so many things and she was genuinely grateful for it.

"My Beautiful Bella! It's good to hear you so joyous! And how did you know I wanted something from you?" His tone showed her the smirk that she knew would grace his face.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that the only time you call me anymore is when you need something from me." She smirked right back into the phone.

"Ah! I'm injured at your accusation my dear! You know a papa bird has to let his little fledgling out of the nest to fly on her own at some point." This was a typical conversation for them. After she had become his guinea pig for a new prosthesis they had grown quite close. She was the proud owner of a top of the line prosthesis that was just recently patented, it was so light and easy to adjust to she didn't even have a noticeable limp anymore.

"Tweet, Tweet, mo'fo'. Seriously, to what do I owe the pleasure of your attention today Papa Bird?" He laughed at her through the airwaves and she was warmed by his sentiment.

"Well, you see, I have a friend, Doctor Carlisle Cullen, and he has a double amputee case I am helping him with. He has informed me that the patient is having some…adjustment issues and I thought I would call in the cavalry."

"I see. Double, huh? Above or below the knee?"

"Below. And he's--"

She cut him off, "Military?"

"Yes. Army Major."

She heaved a large sigh. She knew what Marcus wanted. She knew she was probably the best for the job, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be around military personnel, and he knew it too.

"Is he stateside?" The hammer was hovering over the nail in the coffin, there was no way she was going to Germany. No way, no how.

"Yes. In Charleston, at the Air Force Hospital. I know how you feel about the whole situation Bella, I really do, but I think together we can help him. He just needs that extra push, especially from someone who has been there." He paused, "Does an old man have to beg?"

She thought back to her early days just after her surgery. The way she hated everything, and everyone with a fiery passion that rivaled the gates of Hell. The way she wanted to give up. Charlie was her rock then, and still is, and he pulled her up by her short and curlies one day and told her she needed to get a grip on herself and accept what life threw at her. He was never a man of many words but he scolded her that day and she knew that she had to make up her mind to go on. To live.

"When is my flight you old codger, you?" Marcus wasn't really all that old, in his late fifties, but his soul was beyond ancient.

Through his laughter he spoke, "Two-thirty this afternoon, and thanks beautiful. It means the world to me." Before she could protest his super speedy scheduling of her flight he hung up. Damn.

*~~*

She saw the MP at the baggage claim with her name on a sign before she even had a chance to locate her bags. _Great, already throwing men in uniforms at me. Thanks, God. And Marcus._ Her small shake of the head went unnoticed by the man who filled out his uniform just oh-so-well. He was tall, maybe six-three, black hair peeking form under his cap, skin the color of dark honey, and deep grey-green eyes that just screamed 'fuck me!'. Yeah, she was single but most certainly not dead. Still, it had been six years with only her and her magic wand as her friend. Men seemed to be put off by her steely gaze, her flippant mouth or her lack of half a leg. She could always count on that one to be a deal breaker.

"I'm Bella Swan, Officer…?" She said as she approached.

"Clearwater, ma'am." He replied in a lilting drawl. _Oh Christ, Tall, dark, handsome, in a uniform and Southern? Shoot me now._

"Well, Officer Clearwater, would you mind grabbing that large black suitcase for me? Then we can get the hell outta this clusterfuck." She indicated a huge case on the carousel, and smiled at his shocked expression. She had never been able

to curb her vocabulary very well, only around Marcus because he had that 'a lady shouldn't speak like that' grandfatherly aura around him.

Coming out of his stupor he flashed a small grin and nodded going over to pick up her bag with ease. Yes, she could carry it on her own, but why? He was more than capable.

Officer Clearwater dropped her off at her hotel, indicating there would be a rental car for her coming shortly and handing her a folder with what she assumed were her patients' records. He seemed at a loss for words after handing her the folder, and even managed to give a small blush, before asking her if there was anything else he could do for her before leaving.

She thought that one over quickly and dismissed the images of him hovering over her on the bed in her hotel room. It had been entirely too long, but she wasn't about to cross that invisible line in the sand.

She politely declined, gracing him with a glorious smile and left him at the curb.

When she entered her room she noticed the message light blinking on the phone. She dialed the appropriate number and heard Marcus' voice telling her to meet him in the restaurant downstairs at seven for dinner and drinks.

She had a few hours to kill so she decided a bath was exactly what she would need to calm her mind.

*~~*

She was just entering the doorway to the restaurant when she heard her name called from off to her left.

"Isabella!" Marcus' voice pulled her in his direction, his arm was waving in a very un-manly manner and she couldn't help the laugh that left her lips at his enthusiastic welcome.

He was standing next to the table in all his timeless glory, his brown shoulder length hair the only give away to his hippie days. She used to tease him about it incessantly, even threatening to chop it off of his head herself. His face hadn't changed in two years, he was like most men who grew old gracefully, just graying around the edges but never looking old. Assholes.

He swept her into a hug and then dipped her back to place a smacking kiss on her forehead.

"Eww. Was that necessary?" She sarcastically complained, but giggled like a school girl underneath it and returned the kiss to his cheek.

Taking her hand he turned her to the other man who was standing by the table. This man was probably Marcus' age, but looked like he was in his late thirties. Slightly windswept blonde hair framed a ruggedly handsome face that contained green eyes. He had an air of calm flowing around him and Bella knew he was a doctor, she could tell that was his calling, it just dripped out of his pores.

"This, my dear, is Doctor Carlisle Cullen." She reached for his outstretched hand and was pulled into his warm smile, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Pleased to meet you Dr. Cullen, call me Bella."

"Then call me Carlisle." _Oh, he is smooth. Good thing he's wearing a wedding band. Christ, I need to get off the horn-dog wagon._

They ordered drinks and dinner, spoke of trivial things while they waited for their food and kept things light and simple. After dinner was cleared away they settled down for the meaty portion of their conversation.

Carlisle started to speak, then stopped. He seemed to be gathering his thoughts and then he started again.

"Bella, I've known Jasper for a few years now. He's my nephew's c.o., and one of his closest friends. He's a strong, proud man and he sees this situation as a direct affront to his manhood. He's never been extremely open anyway, but now he's become a closed door. Once in a while he looks out on the world and graces it with a part of his former self, but those times are very rare." He seemed to almost be in pain and Bella could tell he was much closer to the patient than he let on.

"Carlisle, I understand what he's going through. It is an affront to one's persona. You see yourself as this person all your life, and then this traumatic catastrophe happens and you question everything you knew. It's demeaning and it's difficult, but you can't let it kill you. I promise you I will do my best to help him as much as humanly possible."

His smile lit his face like a sunrise coming over the hills.

*~~*

Emmett and Edward were in their usual places, the lounge chair and the club chair. They seemed to be permanently affixed to these pieces of furniture anymore, at least when they weren't in therapy or sleeping. Though in Emmett's case he slept in that lounge chair almost as much as he slept in his own room.

They were currently telling old blonde jokes, a strange past time they had and Jasper was tuning them out for the most part watching some show about tigers on Animal Planet.

Emmett's voice was just finishing up the punch line to the "why do blondes wear hoop earrings?" when Jasper noticed a stunning woman standing in the doorway. She had crept up on them and was standing there with her arms crossed. She was about five-foot-seven, brunette, she had the most beautiful alabaster skin, and huge, dark brown eyes. A small smirk lifted one corner of her full red lips and the light dancing in her eyes was enough to make him wish he could see it everyday.

He wasn't a monk by any means, but he'd never had great luck with women. Well, at least with keeping women. He was married to the military and most women just couldn't live with playing second fiddle to his gun. Now he wondered if he'd ever touch another woman again. What woman would want half a man?

The other two trained monkeys in the room still hadn't noticed her and Jasper knew he'd been staring for entirely too long, but he wanted to take in as much of her as possible.

Edward's laughter stopped abruptly when she spoke up, he watched as his friends' heads whipped to the door at the sound of her voice.

"How do you know when a blonde's been using your computer?" She paused, they just continued to gape at her. "There's white-out on your screen." She finished the joke and Emmett was the first to acknowledge it, guffawing louder than was probably necessary to cover his embarrassment. Edward's chuckle joined Emmett's and finally Jasper's lips turned up in a small smile.

"Aw. Thanks, fellas, I'll be here all week. Try the veal. Don't forget to tip your waitresses." She continued on as she stepped the rest of the way into the room and over to Jasper's bedside. She was curvy, filling out her navy blue scrubs, but muscular, her arms toned and Jasper yearned to touch her to see if the skin was soft over the steel.

"Major Whitlock, I presume? I'm Bella Swan, your new P.T." Her hand stretched out to him and he enveloped her strong hand in his calloused one.

"Yes ma'am, I'm Major Whitlock. But can I ask what happened to my old P.T.?"

He was still holding on to her hand.

"I can't tell you that Major." She stated, straight faced.

"Oh, and why not?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because, then I'd have to kill you." She deadpanned, raising both of her eyebrows.

*~~*

Four hours later Jasper was wishing he'd never seen this woman. He had thought he was doing well in his therapy, but this little slip of a woman was worse than his first drill sergeant; he was pouring sweat, his entire body on fire, every muscle screaming for him to stop and still she pushed.

"Two more reps, Major." She cajoled next to him.

He glared at her.

"That's it, come on, one more." She glared right back.

He stopped.

"Come on! You only had one left to do, why did you stop?" Her dark eyes were searing into his, and he clenched his jaw in defiance.

"Because, I'm done. I hurt, and I am tired." His words ground out through his teeth.

"Oh. I see. Well then you'll just have to do two extra tomorrow." and with that she turned around to throw him a towel and a bottle of water. "Clean up and we'll get you back to the showers." She turned and left, he wasn't sure what to think of her.

*~~*

_Oh for fuck's sake and all that is holy! Why did I agree to this job? Not only am I on a fuckin' military base surrounded by hot men in uniform, I have to have a patient that is beyond words fuck-hawt! _

Bella's mind was swirling in such a maelstrom that she could hardly concentrate.

She had walked in on some brotherly bonding earlier today and couldn't help but notice the triple-threat of manliness sitting in the stark hospital room. One dimpled monstrosity of a man with twinkling blue eyes, one walking, talking, sex-haired Adonis with startling green eyes, _obviously Carlisle's nephew_, and then the one on the bed.

The one on the bed.

He was utterly gorgeous. His frame was strong with wide shoulders tapering down to a slim waist, muscles filling out his white t-shirt, blonde curls just barely touching his forehead, grown out since his stay in the hospital, and the eyes! Those eyes were amazing, a bright greenish-gold with a darker ring around the edges, like a bird of prey.

She had felt them staring into her, pouring over her, and she knew that this one was going to test her. He was going to push every button, test every boundary, and she needed to be ready.

She had introduced herself and he grasped her hand, when he held on to it longer than necessary she couldn't help but notice he was going to push more buttons than she had ever realized she had.

Their first session had gone well, but by the end of it he had shut down. She'd allowed it to happen. The next time he wouldn't be so lucky.

*~~*

Four days a week she came to torture him. Three days a week she still tortured him. She was everywhere, in his thoughts, and most recently in his dreams.

He did the only thing he could do, he blocked her out. He wasn't fit for her, and she would never see him as more than a broken man. She was used to giving pity to her patients, he could see it in her eyes.

Sometimes though he could see something else in her features. A knowing, an acknowledgment that said she knew what was happening to him, and it wasn't pity he saw then. It was fire and pride.

*~~*

Five weeks into Jasper's rehab Bella could see he was crumbling. He was in supreme physical shape, his body was ready for the next step, but his mind was another question.

"Good Afternoon Major, boys," she announced as she strolled into the room. As usual, the triple-threat, as she had come to call them was in full effect. The t.v. was off today though, and they were playing poker. _Hmmm, this could be my way in._ "Am I interrupting your game?" She put on her best innocent face.

"No! As a matter of fact why don't you join us, Bella?" Emmett's dimpled grin invited her in, just as she'd hoped.

"Oh, well…um, I'm not that good at cards." _Liar!_

"That's okay, Edward isn't either." Emmett retorted, Jasper chuckled at the scowl on Edward's face. _Well, that's a new sound from him. _

As hard as she had tried, she couldn't seem to get past the stony façade Jasper had wrapped around himself, especially in her presence.

"If you're all okay with it, I can sit in for a couple hands?" She appraised Jasper's face, and found no objection just a bit of indifference.

"Sure, um, there's no other chair…" Edward's voice drifted off while he looked at Jasper's bed.

"If the Major doesn't mind I can sit on the end of the bed?" Again with the indifference.

"Fine by me, I'm not using it." _Ouch. Didn't see that one coming._

The other two men in the room just stared at him, like he suddenly grew two heads.

"Okay!" Her enthusiasm was evident in her tone, but the others were still a bit unsure after Jasper's comment.

Bella stepped over to the bed and quickly made a decision that could make or break the tenuous relationship she had started with her patient. Without pausing she reached down and popped the buckles on her prosthesis, taking it off with fluid motions after years of practice, and laid it on the bed before hopping up to face the three statues that had taken the place of the men.

*~~*

Jasper was sure his eyes would pop right out of his head. He was pretty sure Emmett and Edward's already had. Before he knew what he was doing his voice growled out, "You two, leave, now." They turned to look at him and saw their commanding officer's eyes giving them a direct order. Without a word they got up from their chairs and left the room closing the door behind them.

The woman sat before him on his bed, defiantly staring right into his eyes.

"What the ever loving fuck is this?" His voice was low, but harsh.

"This is your final wake up call, Major." Her tone matched his.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her face was full of that fire and pride he had seen on occasion, and now he felt the gaze that accompanied it.

"It means that I will no longer put up with your shit. It means that you need to realize that you are capable of being a contributing human in this world. It means that you need to drop that armor and let me in. It means that you need to pull your head out of your ass and start living again."

He should've been pissed, he sort of was, but for the most part he was astonished. He'd never even known she had a prosthesis. She was so _whole_, so perfect. She worked with him, pushed him beyond his limits, made him push himself, at least physically. And the entire time she was like him, or at least she had been. That look that he had seen in her eyes was not pity, it was empathy. She'd been where he was, felt the worthlessness, and she had left it behind.

He couldn't hold himself together under her watchful eyes anymore. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the pillow that covered his lap placing his head in his hands as he took in a shaky breath.

Before he could say anything else he felt her shift on the bed and then he felt her hands on his wrists, she didn't try to make him move, she just sat there.

He had no idea how long they sat like that, but finally her whisper broke the silence.

"Jasper." It was the first time she hadn't called him Major. "Jasper, please let me in. I can help you. I want to help you."

His hands slowly dropped and he raised his head to look into her deep brown eyes, but everything was blurry as his eyes filled with tears.

*~~*

From that point on he resolved to open up. She told him how she lost her leg, her fiancé, all of the anger issues she went through. He knew that she had planned all of this, down to the very last part. Though how she knew it would go down like this he couldn't understand.

What he did understand was that she was a kindred soul. A person who had been thrown into the fire and forged by it, only to return a harder, sturdier version of herself.

Their friendship grew, and he found it more and more difficult to keep his feelings to himself. He longed to hold her in his arms. He was still so unsure of her though. She kept up a very professional demeanor, even though she cussed like a sailor and made Emmett blush on more than one occasion.

When he started to get depressed with his progress she pulled him out of it. She explained to him that the world didn't cater to people like them, and that they had to make their own way in it. When he argued with her over the fact that he wasn't fit to be a leader anymore she smacked him in the back of the head and told him that "Two legs don't make a man, Jasper Whitlock. A man is determined by his heart, and his mind, and his ability to take the world by the balls and squeeze what he wants out of it. Now, do four more reps or you'll do ten extra tomorrow."

That was the day he fell in love with her.

*~~*

"Alright then Major Whitlock, let's see if this fitting is satisfactory." Marcus stepped back from the wheelchair and gave his work a once over, nodding his head in approval.

Bella stood ten feet away at the end of the handrails, her face a mixture of emotions, predominantly anticipation. Edward was standing on his right, while Emmett was behind his chair, and Carlisle on his left. He looked at each of them and took a deep breath reaching for the handrails.

He slowly pulled his body up by his arms and felt his grip on the rails change involuntarily as he stood. His strong arms supported most of his weight, but the two prosthetic legs underneath him took a good portion of it also. The feeling was strange to say the least. His view of the world for the last six months had been one from below most everything, but now he was seeing things from a whole other perspective.

He looked down towards Bella and noticed for the first time that she had a streak of gray hair on top of her head. It wasn't prominent, but it was there and he had never seen it before. He would never have seen it if it wasn't for the bossy little woman herself. He owed so much to her, he wanted to be so much for her, but he couldn't tell her. Not yet.

"Do they feel alright, Jasper?" Her angelic voice brought him back from his musings.

"I think so. How should they feel?"

"Are they putting any uncomfortable pressure anywhere?" Marcus inquired.

"No. I just feel strange is all." That was putting it mildly.

"Well that's understandable. Would you like to try a few steps?" Carlisle asked him with an eager look on his face.

Jasper sent his legs a tentative look and then glanced at Bella who had moved directly in front of him. Her eyes sent him a wave of confidence and he nodded his head slightly. She backed up a few steps and he took his first step toward her. When he didn't immediately meet with the floor he continued on, one step then another, each time Bella backed away from him. He wanted to tell her to stop moving away, but was concentrating so hard on getting to her that he was afraid to speak. Before he even realized it he was at the end of the rails and the beautiful woman in front of him was beaming.

He wished he could take her in his arms, hold her and feel her excitement.

As though she could read his mind she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He inhaled her fresh scent, it was like citrus and he tilted his head down and gently kissed the top of her head without thinking.

"Thank you, darlin'." He whispered into her hair.

She leaned back a little and gazed into his eyes, "You're quite welcome, Major."

Then to his ultimate surprise she reached up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I've been wanting to do that for weeks now." She whispered as she pulled away.

*~~*

The man stood tall and proud in his dress blues, anxiously waiting for the ceremony to start. Glancing around he saw the men of his squad in similar dress, they all acknowledged him in their own unique way; a wiggle of the eyebrows, a crooked grin, a short nod here and there.

He heard the music start and placed his focus on the doors at the end of the room. She entered the room as if she owned it, all poise and grace. Her mahogany hair trailed down her back, the sides pinned up by small combs, the dress she wore was a simple one, no pomp and circumstance for her, she had said. The bouquet she carried was a riot of color, not one shade of the rainbow was missed. But the only thing he was interested in were her eyes.

They were bright with love, dancing with joy, and full of that fire and pride he had seen so many times.

Arriving at his side her father placed her hand in his and smiled at him before kissing her cheek. She whispered a "thanks, dad" and then turned her dazzling smile on him.

The rest of the day was a blur of love, congratulations and food.

Before they knew it they were standing outside of a door labeled Honeymoon Suite and he took her hands in his.

"Darlin' you have made me the happiest man in the world today, and I only wish I could pick you up to carry you across this threshold. But it means almost as much to me to just be able to walk across it next to you. You gave me so much these past months and never asked for anythin' in return. Just remember if there's somethin' I can give to you, you only need to ask."

Her eyes swam in unshed tears at his words.

"Major Jasper Whitlock, you have already given me more than I could ever ask for, I am beyond words thrilled to be able to spend the rest of my life walking next to you. But I do have one request."

"What would that be, Darlin'?" He whispered.

"Shut the hell up and take me to bed before I rip that sexy as hell uniform off you in this hallway!"

The growl that escaped from his chest dampened her panties even more than they already were.

"Hmmm, maybe I should torture you for a little while longer Darlin', you've tortured me plenty."

"If you know what's good for you mister, you're gonna open that door and ravish me until we're both ready to drop dead from exhaustion."

"Did I ever tell you that you're worse than my first drill sergeant?" He said as he opened the door and tugged her gently through.


End file.
